Numbers...

Hey everyone, here's a quick mini-lesson on how people pronounce numbers in North American English.

First off, there is a difference in word stress between numbers in the teens and regular numbers. In Japan, people often do not stress the correct part of the number or do not have enough stress on the syllable.

So, here is how things should be said:

13 - thir-TEEN

30 - THIR-ty

14 - four-TEEN

40 - FOR-ty

15 - fif-TEEN

50 - FIF-ty

16 - six-TEEN

60 - SIX-ty

That is the basic pattern, with a strong emphasis on the N in TEEN. The word stress between teens and regular numbers are opposite so that people do not get confused.

Now, in North America we also have lots of pronunciation changes so that we can count more quickly. Here is a list of the changes:

20 - twenty - twenny

30 - thirty - thirdy

40 - forty - fordy

50 - fifty - fifty, I don't change it but some change it to fifdy

60 - sixty - sixdy

70 - seventy - sevenny

80 - eighty - eighdy

90 - ninety - ninney

These changes happen so that the numbers become easier to pronounce quickly, fifty is easier to say than fifdy so I don't change it. In, 20, 70 and 90 the T is dropped and we double the N. In the other numbers, the T usually becomes D.

Enjoy counting!

Phil